Sorry this chapter came out so late. I had a small writer's block on this, but now it's all done. It's not the longest chapter, but I promise you the next Dark Forest chapter will be spectacular. It would contain some thrilling scenes... *snickers* Anyways, more of Ashy and Holly!! xD

Chapter Six

DARK FOREST

Encounter

Hollyleaf's POV

"Hollyleaf," a voice sounded inside my head. I opened my eyes to see a pair of dark blue eyes staring at me. It was Ashfur. "What?" I asked, irritated. I never got enough sleep. Ashfur glared at me and snarled, "It's not my fault you sleep so late, you know." Oh, great. Did he practice reading minds in the Dark Forest as well? I growled back, "Whatever." Rolling his eyes, Ashfur mewed, "Well, today we have to venture deeper into the forest. I want to show you the Shadow Pool, but it's not the safest place."

Curiously, I asked, "Why isn't it safe?" Ha-ha. It's not like any place in the Dark Forest was safe, eh? But we're already dead. Could we die again? It wouldn't matter if it wasn't safe anymore. Ashfur's dark blue eyes darkened (if that's possible). He replied, "Tigerstar and Hawkfrost are always around there." Ouch. Yeah, that made my eyes darken, too. I sighed and meowed, "We can risk, right?" I'd rather die again than be in the Dark Forest with Ashfur. The pale gray tom nodded reluctantly.

"Then let's risk," I announced. I staggered upward, and told Ashfur, "Lead the way." So he led me out of my den of sticks and dead bracken, and brought me into gaps between dark bushes and shadows. Following a narrow gray Thunderpath, we reached a bubbling black swamp. As I leaned closer to take a better look, Ashfur shoved me back and warned me, "Be careful. That's the Shady Swamp, and it's very dangerous. Your body can melt if you touch it. Hawkfrost lost a paw from it once. But it recovers, of course, but it's an unpleasant experience." I nodded, and we padded away quickly, until— yeah, a cat appeared. I've heard horrifying tales about this cat. It was Brokenstar. Before us stood a huge long-haired dark brown tabby tom with bright orange eyes, a broad, flattened face, a battle-scarred muzzle, and a tail bent in the middle like a broken branch. That was the full summary of his frightening appearance. No, I forgot to add a word. Let me repeat the sentence. Before us stood a scarily huge long-haired dark brown tabby tom with bright orange eyes, a creepily flattened, broad face, a frightening battle-scarred muzzle, and an odd tail bent in the middle like a broken branch, and most of all, a bloody, murderous smile. Okay, I guess that was more than a word, but it's the full description.

Brokenstar padded closer to us. "Hello, newcomer," he growled. "And isn't it…" he sniffed twice. "Aren't you Ashfur?" Ashfur glared at him, but Brokenstar held his gaze (well, he was blind, so Ashfur's scary glare is now officially useless). "Run," he whispered at me. I wanted to run away, yeah, but I decided I should be a heroine or something. "No," I shot back mutinously. "I'm not leaving you." Ashfur's dappled blue eyes glimmered, and we both turned to face the frightful former ShadowClan leader.

"Can you let us pass?" I asked. Brokenstar chuckled, and boomed, "Do you think I'd let you?" Pest. He continued: "Well, I won't. I'm bored, and I need something to do." He unsheathed his claws. What a mouse-brain… So Ashfur and I unsheathed our claws as well. Launching myself upward, I charged at the huge tabby. The dark brown tom sidestepped, but tripped on Ashfur's tail. Well, he was a clumsy mouse-brain after all. I pounced onto his side and belly raked him. He yowled in pain and staggered to the side as his belly ripped open into a bloody wound. Blood flowed onto the forest floor like a river, and Ashfur and I slowly walked away.

Ashfur flashed me a playful, mocking smile and exclaimed, "That's my killer!" I rolled my eyes and shot back, "You were just too weak." He kept grinning and I had to grin back. We were becoming pretty good friends, but I still think being with him is sort of gross. Finally, we reached to an even more shadowy place. Suddenly I had to ask a question, "How do you know where all these places are? I thought the Dark Forest was endless?"

"I spent most of my time here exploring," Ashfur explained as we stepped near a shady pool with dark water. Then he turned to the pool and meowed, "This is the Shadow Pool, Hollyleaf." I nodded, and Ashfur announced, "We're really lucky—"

"Because we're not around? Well, now you're not lucky," a bitter voice sneered. We froze. My fox-dung luck. Two dark brown tabby toms stepped out from the bushes concealed in the shadows. One was huge, and had unusually long front claws, including a pair of cold amber eyes. Beside him stood a smaller tom, with a white underbelly and ice blue eyes. Tigerstar and Hawkfrost. Exactly, my fox-dung luck. Oh, what could be worse? Well, I guess I was about to find out. Turning my green eyes on the two evil cats, I grumbled, "Um, what's up?" Oh, great. Could I think of anything better than Um, what's up when two historical villains are standing before me plotting something horrible? I guess not.

Hawkfrost let out a snigger, to my dismay. "Nothing," he snickered loudly. My eardrums rattled at his penetrating voice. Ashfur snarled, "You've tricked me more than once, Hawkfrost. We will leave at once. But don't harm us." Tigerstar curled his lip, and laughed in his low-pitched, piercing voice. "Are you trying to protect the one guilty of your murder from me, Tigerstar?" I narrowed my eyes and glared at him as hard as I could. Apparently, my glare did not have the effect Ashfur's glare had on me. Hey, he's Tigerstar!

Tigerstar padded forward as Hawkfrost did the same. Soon, they got it locked in a circle. We were stuck. I didn't dare imagine what would come next, but I knew that this encounter was not the best. My fox-dung luck today. I hope, after this fight, we wouldn't encounter more evil cats. But I guess that couldn't be expected, eh? Good luck to me.

Wow, Hollyleaf is a black cat. Maybe that's why she's so unlucky? Nah... lol. She srsly needs a good luck charm. No clovers here tho. Oh! Larkkit plushies to all of you for reviewing! And big thanks to stormikat for most of this chappy. It was her idea to let her meet Tiggy, Hawky, and Broky. (Sry, weird names, but I waz too lazy.) Well, Good luck to Hollyleaf.

~~Rainy